


Hot Dog

by chibi_zoe



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Magic-Users, Minor Character Death, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-19 19:04:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3620856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi_zoe/pseuds/chibi_zoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor.  Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Hot Dog Pt 1  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: YonKaka  
Rating: will be NC17  
Summary: Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

 

Cresting the last rise, Sakumo smiled as he saw the walled village that he called home come into view. Increasing his pace, he hurried towards the open gates. His very pregnant wife was due any day now and he hadn’t wanted to leave her, but his employer had insisted, and because he wanted to be able to provide for his wife and their child in the future, he had accepted. The mission had taken slightly longer than he had expected however and now Sakumo was racing home as fast as his two feet could carry him.

“Any word yet?” he queried the gate guards as he briefly paused to sign himself back in. 

“Not yet Sakumo-san, but she didn’t look very comfortable when she came past the gates to look for you at lunchtime. I’d hurry home if I was you.” The gate guard who was witnessing his signature smiled as he spoke.

“Thanks, I’ll do that.” Nodding farewell to the friendly men, he turned to navigate the maze of crowded streets, heading towards his own modest cottage. It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t in a very nice area, but it was an actual free-standing cottage and not one of the many cramped apartments that made up the majority of Konoha’s housing.

Turning into his street at last, he was just in time to see the plump little midwife disappear through his front door. Almost breaking into a run, he hurried to follow her.

Bursting into the house, he was shocked to find his wife leaning tiredly face-first against the wall, whilst the midwife firmly massaged her hips and buttocks. Closing the door gently, he hurried to his wife’s side.

“Sakumo! Thank Kami, I didn’t think that you were going to make it in time, I’ve been holding it off as best I can but he just doesn’t want to wait any longer.” Bending down to peck his wife on her cute button lips, Sakumo reached out to take her hand and reassure her, but flinched back as the midwife smacked his hand, hard.

“Sakumo-sama, you don’t want to make your lovely wife all dirty now do you? You will have more than enough time to wash up and then rejoin us before the baby arrives.” 

Looking down at himself at her words, Sakumo suddenly realised exactly how grimy he really was. Blushing in mortification, he mumbled his apologies, and excused himself to bathe. The bathroom was a basic lean-to at the back of the cottage and Sakumo quickly stripped off his soiled clothing and filled a bucket with warm water. Scrubbing himself down, he wondered why the midwife didn’t like him. It could be that she just didn’t like men in general, but there was always a chance that she knew who he really was.

When Sakumo had first seen the woman who was now his wife, she had been a girl on the cusp of womanhood, and her soft gaze and gentle hands had captured his heart immediately. In those days, Sakumo had been a wolf, and she had found him caught in a clever hunters trap. He had been too weak to move, from trying to escape and his snout and paws had been bloodied with his efforts. At first she had been scared of him, but then his plight had clearly wrenched at her heart and she had nervously approached him. Freeing him, she had healed his wounds and then fed him weak beef broth until he had been able to stand again.

He had continued to watch her, coming to the edge of the small village where she lived and peering through the trees at her. His pack had tried to get him to abandon his infatuation, but he had ignored them and continued to watch. Then, one day, a young man had approached him cautiously, saying that he had seen Sakumo watching the girl, and that he knew how to help. The man, Sarutobi-sama, could transform Sakumo into a human with his sorcery, and all he asked in return, was that Sakumo work for him.

Sakumo had considered the offer carefully. He had desperately wanted to be human so that the girl would love him, but he was wary of the deal. The man had given him three days to think the offer over. Sakumo had been unable to find a fault with the deal and had agreed to undergo the transformation. Learning to be human had been a difficult task and had taken far longer than Sakumo had originally expected, but the tasks that his new master asked him to do were not too strenuous and they gave Sakumo plenty of time to pursue the woman of his dreams.

Their courtship had been long and fraught with missteps, but eventually she had agreed to marry him. Sakumo had been delighted. The years had passed and Sakumo had been happy. Then his beloved started to talk about children, and how all of her friends had families of their own and how desperately she wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet. Giving into her whims, as he always did, Sakumo had stopped wearing protection when they made love. It still took the better part of a year before her belly started to swell, but Sakumo had been delighted when she confirmed her condition.

As her time approached, Sakumo had wanted to spend more time at home by her side, Sarutobi-sama had understood, but reminded him that certain jobs still had to get done. Rather surprisingly, one of Sarutobi-sama’s students, Jiraiya, had agreed to help him out. The toad demon was a journeyman who still learning the complex art of high sorcery, but he was good company and his assistance meant that Sakumo could get home to his wife sooner than if he had been alone. 

On this last mission though, he had been alone. Jiraiya was tutoring several of the local Youkai Academy’s new students and had been unable to assist him. It meant that Sakumo took longer than normal to complete his tasks and he had nearly missed the birth of his child. Hearing pained groaning from the main house, he hurried through his ablutions and quickly dried himself off. Dressing in clean clothes, he returned to the main room to find his wife now lying down and the midwife crouched between her thighs.

Dropping to his knees by his wife’s side, he took her hand and murmured reassurances in her ears. He told her how much he loved her and how wonderful their life was going to be when their child was born. His wife had been adamant that their child was going to be a son, and had only purchased clothing for boys. Sakumo had smiled at her indulgence and secretly squirreled money away to purchase girls clothing if it was required. Wincing at the strength of the grip that she had on his arm, he shuffled around behind her to help support her back.

His wife’s moans and cries continued for hours, and even though the midwife seemed unconcerned by the amount of time passing, it was making Sakumo nervous. His only real experience with the bearing of young had been in his time as a wolf, and wolves gave birth quickly and easily, allowing them to be able to protect their progeny as soon as possible. This extended labour was something that he had only heard about from his friends and colleagues when they found out that the Hatake family was expecting, and Sakumo had put it down to teasing.

Finally though, the midwife started to make encouraging noises and his wife’s cries became more focused. She strained and strained and then the midwife gave a terrified scream. His wife continued to strain whilst the midwife stared in horror at what her hands had caught. Gently laying his wife down, Sakumo lunged down to shove the midwife aside. In her hands was a puppy. A fully formed wolf puppy and Sakumo felt his heart pound in his chest painfully. He had never told his wife about his life before he met her, about his life as a wolf, and now the past was rising up to choke him.

“What have you done?” The midwife croaked at him as she thrust the squirming bundle of fur at him. Between his wife’s thighs were several malformed shapes, an unhealthy mix of human and wolf, which mercifully did not move. The bleeding had not stopped but the midwife scrambled to her feet and fled the room, leaving Sakumo holding the puppy and his wife lying weakly in a pool of blood and asking him what was happening.

“Everything is fine my love.” He lied to her. “Our son is beautiful.” 

Placing the puppy on her breast, where it suckled happily, he moved to take her hand and brush the hair back from her pale face. She smiled up at him and raised her hand to cradle her baby, but he caught her wrist instead. If the midwife’s reaction had been any indication, then his wife would probably freak out to encounter fur rather than skin. As it was, he could see confusion on her face as the puppy kneaded her breast with soft paws. He desperately wanted to run after the midwife, or scream for a healer, but instead, he stayed by his wife’s side, comforting her as the blood continued to seep from between her thighs.

When her eyes finally fluttered shut in exhaustion, Sakumo leapt into action. He wrapped the deformed bodies in the bloody towels that the midwife had been using and set them aside to bury in the yard. Then he tried to stem the slow flow of blood from his wife’s body. Nothing looked torn, and he didn’t know if there was supposed to be blood or not. Placing a blanket over his wife and their son, he snuck outside to bury the bodies of their other children, the ones who had not survived. 

He had just finished, when a scream from inside the house alerted him that he wife was now awake and that she had seen their son for the first time. Scared for the little puppy, he dropped the shovel and raced inside. His wife was pushed the puppy aside and was searching frantically, calling out for her baby. When he entered the room, her tearful eyes caught his.

“Sakumo! Where’s our baby Sakumo, I can’t find him anywhere.” 

Bending down to scoop up the puppy, he moved to sit beside her. Then he realised that he didn’t know what he was going to say to her. How do you explain to the love of your life, your wife of almost ten years, that you weren’t always human, that you were born a wolf and became human as a result of sorcery, and that your new son was actually a puppy? 

Stroking the puppy’s head, he tried his best to explain to her what was going on. An expression of disgust was twisting her beautiful features and horror was shining in her eyes when he finally finished his sorry tale. Hunching over their son, he tried to suggest calmly that they think of a name, but his wife flew into a rage. She screamed and shouted at him about how he had betrayed her; that he was a monster who had used her to sire monstrous children. Even knowing that it was just shock and blood loss talking, it still hurt to hear her say it. Trying to calm her down however only seemed to make it worse.

Eventually she wore herself out and slumped back against her pillows in exhaustion. Shuffling closer to her, and still cuddling the puppy close, Sakumo pulled the blankets up to her chin and tucked her in. Thinking of names, he tried and discarded many before eventually deciding that Kakashi was the perfect moniker for his little son. Then he simply lay there and dreamed sweet dreams about what could have been, if only Kakashi had been born a human.


	2. Hot Dog Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Title: Hot Dog Pt 2  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: YonKaka  
Rating: will be NC17  
Summary: Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Cradling the tiny, furry, body against his chest, inside his shirt, Sakumo staggered towards Sarutobi-sama’s tower residence in a daze. Not quite twelve hours ago, his life had been perfect. He was a trusted member of Sandaime’s staff, married to the woman that he loved with all his heart and heading home to their neat little cottage in time to bear witness to the birth of their son, the culmination of nine months of dreaming.

Then, in mere minutes, his perfect world had been turned viciously on its ear. His defenceless little son was not human, which had caused the midwife to run off screaming into the night and then his wife had violently rejected their baby, refusing to even look at him. He’d had to bury the twisted remains of their other children who had, mercifully, not survived their birth, and clean up the copious amounts of blood that had continued to leak from between his wife’s thighs.

Now he was on his way to the only place that he could think of to go - Sarutobi-sama’s tower. He didn’t know if this was a known side-effect of the sorcery that had been cast upon him, although he didn’t think so due to the way that the old man had congratulated him and his wife on their success. But, perhaps the sorcerer might be able to cast his magic on Kakashi and turn him human as well, maybe then his mother would accept him and they could go back to being a perfect family. 

“Sakumo!” The look on his face must’ve told a longer story that he’d thought judging by the amount of time that Sarutobi-sama stared at it. “What’s wrong? I heard that your wife went into labour last night.” Wordlessly, Sakumo reached into his shirt and withdrew his son’s tiny body. Kakashi whimpering pleadingly as he was taken away from his heat source. 

The look of shock and sincere sympathy on Sarutobi-sama’s face instantly quelled any anger rising in Sakumo’s breast. The old man reached out and run a wrinkled fingertip over Kakashi’s furry head, scratching gently behind the closed ears. He closed his eyes whilst he muttered some spell over the tiny body, and Sakumo held his breath desperately. When his employer blinked suddenly and then really ‘looked’ at his son, Sakumo felt the first inklings of dread.

“Sarutobi-sama?” He queried. “Is there anything that you can do for Kakashi?” He hated the quaver in his voice, especially when the sorcerer turned depthless eyes on him and gestured for him to take a seat. Sinking into the overstuffed easy chair across from Sarutobi-sama’s own, he waited whilst the man called for his former apprentice, Jiraiya, to make tea. 

When the tea had been served, Jiraiya took a seat on the ottoman, with his own apprentice, Minato, at his feet. The blond child appearing solemn for the first time that Sakumo had ever seen. He cradled Kakashi close, smiling softly at the way that the little body squirmed into his, making himself comfortable. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up suddenly to see three sets of soft eyes trained on his cute little son. 

“Sakumo-san, I don’t know the best way to tell you this, but there’s nothing that I can do for Kakashi other than to ensure that he receives some basic training in sorcery.” Sarutobi-sama’s voice was sympathetically sorrowful, but Sakumo still felt his heart plummet into his stomach. 

“When I transformed your form from wolf to human, I magically altered the DNA affecting your appearance. It never occurred to me that your reproductive DNA would not change.” Sakumo could see the interested look on Minato’s face, and, although he hid it better, on Jiraiya’s as well.

“When I examined Kakashi just now, I sensed a double set of DNA, a human set from his mother and a wolf set from you.” Sakumo glanced down at his son in wonder. “It should mean that when Kakashi is older, he will be able to transform himself from human to wolf. A were-wolf you might say.”

“Why can’t you just transform him now?” Surely if Sarutobi-sama could just case his magic and turn Kakashi from his helpless puppy form to his equally helpless baby form, then his mother would accept him.

“I know why you’re so desperate for this Sakumo, but if I interfere now, I could make it a thousand times worse. What would your wife do if Kakashi suddenly started changing forms without conscious control? Turning human to cry for food, but into wolf to chew on his toys, or an odd mix of the two to play in the yard?” Sakumo hadn’t even considered that something like that might occur, and he could well imagine what reaction his wife would have considering how she was right now.

Sakumo opened and closed his mouth wordlessly as idea after idea was thought through and discarded. The only way around Sarutobi-sama’s decision, was for Kakashi to gain the necessary control as fast as possible. But the wolf part of him reminded him that puppy-hood was a sacred time for playing and bonding with the other pack members. Although, as an only puppy whose mother had rejected him, it wasn’t like he had a lot of bonding to do, and maybe he could incorporate play and learning?

“Thank you for your assistance Sarutobi-sama.” Sakumo rose to his feet and bowed respectfully, before turning to leave. A soft hand on his arm had him turning to see Jiraiya’s troubled face.

“Sakumo? Why don’t you leave Kakashi here with me for a while and go talk to your wife without him between you? It’s obvious that she is rejecting him, why don’t you make it easy for her? That way, when you’ve talked her around, you can both come back here to take him home together?” Sakumo considered Jiraiya’s offer, and nodded acceptance, perhaps his wife would be more willing to talk without Kakashi’s furry presence.

Walking back through the village, Sakumo kept his back straight and his head held high. This would all work out just fine and he could have his perfect life back again. He just had to think of the right words to say. He couldn’t help but notice, however, that the closer he got to his cottage, the more shadowed the faces of the bystanders became, and he wondered suddenly, if the midwife had been spreading stories. Fearing for his wife’s life, he hurried towards the front door. Luckily, it was still locked, and all the windows were intact. Sighing in relief, he opened the door, and felt his world shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. 

She was hanging from the exposed rafters by her favourite scarf, the one that Sakumo had bought her as a wedding gift. It was wrapped around her flawless throat and preventing any air from entering. He rushed forwards to wrap his arms around her lifeless body, sobbing brokenly and swearing revenge on the one who had done this to her.

When his tears had slowed, Sakumo released his wife’s cold body. He had to get her down from there. On the floor by her feet was a toppled chair. He righted it and stepped up onto it, reaching up to cut the familiar scarf off where it was knotted around the beam. His wife fell heavily to the floor and sprawled there in an undignified heap. Leaping down after her, Sakumo gathered her into his arms and carried her to the futon, laying her out carefully. Brushing his hand through her hair, he looked around for clues as to who had done this horrible thing to his beloved.

Feeling his heart constrict in his chest, Sakumo took the spotlessly clean house into account, along with the knots in the scarf, which were the same ones that his wife always used when she was trussing up a roast, and the fact that there was no evidence that anyone other than himself, his wife and the midwife had been in the building. It meant that his wife had done this herself, she had been so horrified at what she’d borne that she had committed suicide to assuage her shame and self-hatred. Sakumo was, in effect, the one who had killed her. He might not have wrapped the scarf around her neck, but he was still the culprit.

“I’m sorry, my love. I never meant to hurt you.” 

Staggering to his feet, Sakumo moved to the door and opened it. He stared back at his wife, laid out in a parody of sleep, and then shut the door. On the street, he felt like he was the centre of everyone’s attention, which he did his best to ignore. He turned his feet once again towards Sarutobi-sama’s tower, knowing that the old man would know exactly what to do next.

**--**--**

The funeral was held on an obscenely fine day, and Sakumo watched with dry eyes as they burned his wife’s body, allowing her ashes to float upon the wind and freeing her soul. Kakashi was not present; he had been left behind with Jiraiya’s apprentice Minato. Their child had no place in this sad ceremony.

**--**--**

Sitting back on his tiny haunches, Kakashi cried and whimpered pitifully. The sandals that he had been following so happily had suddenly disappeared. He looked around but all he could see was tall grass and decomposing logs. Crying his heart out at his abandonment, he was then overjoyed as an enormous hand suddenly swooped down and scooped him up, cuddling him close. He inhaled the familiar scent, a musky aroma of sweat, soap and something indefinably ‘Sakumo’.

From his position in Sakumo’s arms, Kakashi watched the world pass by at an enormous speed, far faster than his tiny legs could travel. Hundreds of interesting smells assaulted his nose as they went, making his head spin with olfactory delight. He didn’t know where they were or where they were going, but he knew that as long as Sakumo was with him, then everything would be alright. 

When they came to a halt, Kakashi looked up, and wriggled delightedly. He recognised where they were! Jiraiya was here and the old man always had tasty treats for Kakashi. Whining and frantically churning his little legs, he tried desperately to leap from Sakumo’s hands, sure that he could get to Jiraiya faster under his own power. He yipped his thanks when Sakumo lowered him to the ground and then let him go, racing towards Jiraiya as fast as he could and ignoring the laughter that followed him.

**--**--**

Sakumo sat and sipped his tea with Jiraiya, as they watched Kakashi attempting to savage a chicken wing. His son was trying to growl menacingly, without much noticeable success, and was baring his tiny milk teeth. Beside him, Jiraiya was chuckling around his dango and randomly commenting on Kakashi’s attack patterns and growth. His friend was very sharp, clearly a legacy of his training under Sarutobi-sama, Sakumo hadn’t thought that anyone would notice that Kakashi’s behaviour was not totally wolf-like. His son was highly intelligent and very obviously picking up human traits. Sakumo wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.

**--**--**

Jiraiya watched Sakumo from the corner of his eye as he made his observations. Wether his friend was human or a wolf wearing a human form made no difference to him, he was a toad demon himself after all. He was worried about little Kakashi though. Sakumo appeared to be rather torn about his son. He clearly loved the little puppy, but sometimes Jiraiya caught an unreadable expression on Sakumo’s face when they talked about him, and he wondered what it was that Sakumo had planned for Kakashi’s future.

**--**--**

From his position in the study, Minato looked out of the open window at Sakumo’s son playing in the short grass. Kakahsi was unbelievably cute, and Minato had to hold himself back from racing outside and gathering the tiny puppy into his arms to coo over. Only the fact that Sakumo would look down on such unmanly behaviour, and that Jiraiya-sensei would rap him over the head for abandoning his studies, kept Minato inside the room. It didn’t stop him from putting his books down to watch the puppyish antic’s however.


	3. Hot Dog Pt 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Title: Hot Dog Pt 3  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: YonKaka  
Rating: will be NC17  
Summary: Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

 

Minato stumbled and fell to his knees. Blood was steadily seeping from a clumsily wrapped bandage on his shoulder, and he was feeling distinctly light-headed from whatever poison it was that had been on the blade that cut him. Struggling to regain his feet, he turned his face towards home, trying to ignore how the horizon was blurred out, and promised himself all sorts of wondrous treats if he actually managed to make it back.

**--**--**

Kakashi froze. He was following a strange scent that was being carried on the breeze. It was like an odd combination of fresh blood, strong enough to make his mouth water but human in nature, flowers and something else that he could only identify as bad. Looking around, he realised suddenly that he was much further from Jiraiya’s house than he should be. Tucking his tail between his legs, he crept forwards anyway, his curiosity overriding his fear.

He followed his nose, keeping his body as close to the ground as he could, towards a dense and thorny bush. There was a human body there, half sprawled on top of it and half crawled into the heart of it. Kakashi recognised the human. It was Minato, Jiraiya’s apprentice. Sakumo had gone looking for Minato after he failed to reappear from a mission, leaving Kakashi with Jiraiya, who was laid up with some kind of strange malady that no-one would talk to Kakashi about but which apparently forbade Jiraiya from rescuing his own pupil.

Scared for the human, who wasn’t moving, but didn’t smell dead yet, Kakashi crept nearer. He was so close to the ground with fear that he was very nearly leaving a drag mark in the dirt, something that Sakumo would’ve scolded him for. Entering the bush, he whimpered quietly as one of the wickedly sharp thorns scraped down his flank, drawing a few drops of his blood and pulling several hairs out by the root. Minato didn’t so much as stir at the soft noise, and Kakashi pushed his way forwards, determined to get to the half-grown man.

When he could finally lick the hand that was dangling down and touching the bare dirt at the heart of the bush, Kakashi was missing more than a few hairs and was bleed rather copiously from several long scratches. Now that he was here though, he wasn’t sure what he should do. He licked the hand again, and then nuzzled into it, but Minato did not react. Whimpering slightly, Kakashi tried to work out what he should do next. Sakumo’s most recent lessons had all revolved around logical thinking – human logical thinking anyway.

He knew that he couldn’t move Minato by himself as the human out-weighed him many times over, and he didn’t know any sorcery. He could try going back to Jiraiya’s house to attempt to make the toad demon understand him, not that he’d had much success with that in the past, or he could sit here and hope that Minato might just wake up by himself. Or perhaps he could force Minato to wake up! Growling slightly, he carefully took one of the human’s fingers in his mouth, making sure it was one of the little ones – the ones not used to scritch behind his ears – and slowly bit down on the fleshy part.

It wasn’t until he felt his teeth break through the skin, and tasted the warm coppery liquid on his tongue that he felt Minato start to stir. Dropping the finger, he licked as much of the available hand and arm as he could reach in encouragement. From above, Kakashi heard the sound of pained moaning and the sound of branches protesting, and then the arm slowly withdrew.

Wriggling out from the bush, and gaining a few more painful scratches in the process, Kakashi slowly circled the thorny growth until he found a pair of sandalled feet. Sitting on his haunches, he looked up to see the blond slowly extricating himself from the plant’s thorny grasp. Yipping happily, he leant against the bandaged leg, and was startled when Minato yelped in fright and pulled away.

Keeping his tail tucked between his legs, and his belly close to the ground, Kakashi stared up into dilated blue eyes which stared down unseeingly. Slowly, he saw recognition start to bloom in those eyes, and pricked his ears carefully. When he heard his name slurred out, he sat up and took a cautious step forwards. Something was clearly wrong with Minato, and it was scarring Kakashi. He’d never seen anything like this before and wasn’t sure how to handle it.

**--**--** 

At first Minato had been scared when he’d seen the wolf, well wolf puppy really, look up at him. His exhausted and poisoned mind had conjured visions of being eaten alive and he’d attempted to flee, unsure of his ability to fight. The fact that he was still mostly ensnared in the thorn bush that he’d passed out into was the only thing that had kept him in the area long enough to recognise Sakumo’s son Kakashi. Currently the puppy was slowly creeping across the intervening distance between them with his tail firmly tucked between his legs, his ears flat to his head and his belly nearly scraping the ground in his fear.

Feeling guilty at having scared Kakashi so badly, Minato tried to reassure the pup that his help was more than welcome, and that no, Minato was not going to hurt him. By the time that Kakashi was finally won over, Minato felt dreadfully weak, and he tugged ineffectually at his arms that were still firmly held by the thorny branches. At his feet, Kakashi whimpered and raised himself onto his hind legs to scrabble at Minato’s thigh. 

“It’s all right Kakashi, I’m stuck in this stupid thorn bush and I’ve been poisoned so I can’t even use sorcery to free myself. I’ve been in worse fixes before though.” 

He tried to laugh at his predicament, but it came out shrilly, and sounded far too close to hysteria for his comfort. Slumping to his knees, uncaring of how the thorns tore further into his already lacerated arms, Minato bowed his head and tried to think through the cotton wool stuffing his head. He couldn’t die in front of Kakashi. He had to think of a way out of this, but his brain didn’t seem to want to work with him.

**--**--** 

Kakashi couldn’t understand why Minato wouldn’t get up. He was curled up against the human’s legs, and salty tears were slowly dripping onto his fur, but the boy was no longer struggling to free himself, and the bad smell was getting worse. Whining in confusion, he looked up at where Minato’s arms were tangled in the thorny bush. Bright blood was dribbling down the boys’ arms, from where the thorns were piercing his flesh, and soaking into his clothes. Then Kakashi noticed something odd.

The metal tooth that the boy always carried, Sakumo always called it a kunai but he’d heard Minato call it a dagger and Jiraiya generally referred to it as a knife, was still at his belt. Maybe, if Kakashi could get the tooth out of its pouch and gave it to Minato, then he could cut himself free? But how was he to get the tooth into Minato’s hands once he managed to get it out of its holder? Shaking his head, Kakashi decided to concentrate on one problem at a time. 

Nosing the leather pouch where the tooth was stored, he tried to lift the strap keeping it shut with his nose. It refused to move. Sitting back, Kakashi eyed the pouch. There was a silver button at the end of the strap, and the leather in that area was dark and well-worn. He cocked his head as he thought about it, he could remember seeing Minato finger the strap at that end before, just before the tooth appeared in his hand like magic. Licking his lips thoughtfully, Kakashi tried pushing the button with his nose. It was cold and nothing happened. What he did notice however, was that the end of the strap was rather ragged and protruded slightly.

Opening his mouth, he grasped the end of the strap between his teeth and tugged. It came undone easily and Kakashi yipped happily to himself at his success. Twisting his head, he managed to grasp the cord-wrapped hilt between his jaws and tried to lift it out of its pouch. There was a major problem. With the way that Minato was semi-slumped on his knees, Kakashi wasn’t quite tall enough to lift the tooth completely free of the pouch. Letting it go, he sat back on his haunches to consider the problem further.

**--**--** 

The sun is starting to set and Jiraiya suddenly realises that Kakashi is neither sleeping in his basket nor playing in the yard. This is bad, very, very bad. If he loses Sakumo’s only son, his friend will never, ever, forgive him. Rising quickly to his feet, he shuffles around the house called out for the pup, who is usually very obedient and comes when he’s called. With still no sign of Kakashi, Jiraiya steps out into the yard and starts the process all over again. When this still fails to yield Sakumo’s son, he worries at his lip as he thinks through all the places that Kakashi might have gone to, or been taken to again his will.

Finding the list to be far too long for one person to check before dawn, Sakumo crouches down to summon a small army of toads to do his searching for him. They mightn’t be very big, but there are plenty of them. Giving them their instruction, he sends them out whilst he conducts a close inspection of the fence, looking for places where Kakashi might have wriggled through. The dilapidated state of his fence is rather shocking, and he makes a mental note to add it to Minato’s tasks as a ‘training exercise’ as soon as the boy returns – he refuses to believe that something terminal has happened to his apprentice.

Jiraiya finds no traces of Kakashi, whether this is due to Sakumo’s training or his being stolen by an experienced pet-napper, he has no idea, and he is nearly overcome with jubilation when one of his toads finally reports finding puppy traces. Recalling the rest of the toads, Jiraiya races as fast as he is currently capable of towards the positive report. There is a distinct puppy paw print in the soft soil and several grey hairs caught against a tree-trunk. Smiling with relief, Jiraiya heads carefully in the direction of the paw prints, looking closely at the ground for any further clues.

When he eventually finds his missing charge, a surprisingly long way from home, he feels his heart constrict in his chest. Kakashi has found Minato, and his student is in a very bad way. The boy is tangled in a thorn bush, he is covered in blood, and clearly suffering from some kind of poisoning. Kakashi has clearly been trying to rescue him, the pup’s grey fur is matted with blood and he is holding Minato’s knife between his teeth. Several severed branches prove that the pup has been at least partially successful in his attempts. 

Racing forwards, Jiraiya reaches out for the knife with one hand, and for Minato with the other. The pup happily relinquishes the sharp metallic object and moves to rest his head on Minato’s knee. It takes moments for Jiraiya to cut his student free and to scoop both him and Kakashi into his arms. He heads for home as fast as he is able, sending his final remaining toad summon for his own sensei. Healing is not Jiraiya’s strong point.

**--**--** 

Sakumo heads for home as soon as it becomes clear, through his investigations, that Minato had indeed completed his mission and turned his own feet for home. He follows the boy’s trail, just in case he hadn’t quite managed to reach his destination, but makes it clear to Jiraiya’s home with no sign of a body. When he enters the house though, he finds both Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sama leaning over Minato’s prone body. The boy is still breathing, but isn’t in a good way. Then Sakumo catches sight of his son and feels his entire world shake on its axis. Kakashi is curled up by Minato’s shoulder, and his small body is covered in bandages. 

Rushing forwards, he drops to his knees and reaches out a shaking hand to pet his son’s head. Kakashi awakens at his touch and licks his hand, but where he would normally launch himself into Sakumo’s arms, this time he stays where he is. His son is growing up, and not in the way that Sakumo wanted. Irrational anger at Minato, for being the one to set Kakashi’s feet on the path towards adult-hood, rises in Sakumo’s breast despite his best attempts to tamp it down. Grinding his teeth, he strokes his hand down Kakashi’s back, being very careful of the bandages, and settles down on his heels to join the others in their vigil.


	4. Hot Dog Pt 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Title: Hot Dog Pt 4  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: YonKaka  
Rating: will be NC17  
Summary: Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Minato laid a gentle hand on Kakashi’s back as they sat reading together in the warm morning sun. It had been a long two weeks of enforced bed-rest since he’d been rescued from certain death and Kakashi had been injured. The pup had been keeping him company in the sick room, much to Sakumo-san’s obvious displeasure, but Jiraiya-sensei had insisted, claiming it made caring for the pair of them easier. Kakashi’s bandages had been removed that morning and he was clearly very pleased about the fact, even if the bald patches did make him look rather ridiculous. 

Watching the casual way that his son cuddled up to his friend’s apprentice, Sakumo ground his teeth together in frustration. Kakashi was his son, his baby and far too young to be venturing out of the den and making friends with outsiders. 

“What do you think Sakumo?” Hearing his name, Sakumo turned to face Jiraiya, who was looking at him expectantly. He had no idea what the toad demon had just said. 

“I’m sorry Jiraiya, I was daydreaming, what were you saying?” He could feel his cheeks redden in embarrassment at being caught out blatantly not listening to his friend. Chuckling, Jiraiya repeated himself.

“I said that I think Kakashi should start going to school. The new semester starts in a couple of week’s time, and it’s becoming obvious that your son is very precocious. He’s going to need something to keep him stimulated or he’s going to get bored and start chewing on your furniture.” The last comment was accompanied by a broad grin, and Sakumo was instantly reminded of a certain foot-stool that had already been a victim of Kakashi’s sharp little teeth.

“I don’t know Jiraiya, Kakashi’s still awfully young.” But still not growing at the expected rate, Sakumo mused, it must have something to do with his mixed heritage. The look that Jiraiya was casting his way very clearly stated that age wasn’t an issue; it was all to do with mental prowess.

“Look at him Sakumo, he’s not just lying there with Minato - he’s actually reading that book along with him.” Startled, Sakumo did as he was told, and was astonished to see that Jiraiya was right, Kakashi was clearly moving his head in the same manner as a child who had just learned to read. He wondered how he could possibly have missed such an important milestone in his son’s life. Sakumo was sure that it was Minato’s fault somehow.

“I’ll think about it.” It was all that Sakumo could think of to say as he sat and watched Minato and Kakashi clearly conversing about something, his son thumping his tail against the floor or yipping softly in response to the blond boy’s queries. It made the blood boil in his veins in resentment, and what was worse, was that he couldn’t even take Kakashi forcibly and storm off home, because he needed both Jiraiya and Minato to watch over Kakashi whilst he went on missions for Sarutobi-sama, and he needed to stay in the old man’s good books so that he would teach Kakashi how to turn himself into a human when the pup was old enough. 

**--**--** 

Kakashi was by turns both excited and scared. Sakumo had told him in a very solemn tone that he would be attending the Youkai Academy as a student when the new semester started. Minato had been overjoyed at the news and had immediately started telling Kakashi amusing stories about his own tenure there as a student. He had also told Kakashi not to worry too much about anything as both he and Jiraiya worked there as tutors and they would be able to give him any assistance that he might require. 

Lying in his basket at the foot of Sakumo’s bed, Kakashi wondered how he was going to communicate with both the teachers and the other students at the academy. Sakumo had told him not to worry about it, as the students came from all walks of life, and the teachers would have adapted ways to understand by now, but it was also clear that Sakumo did not know what these ways might be. Kakashi suspected that Sakumo did not really want him to attend the school, and that he hadn’t actually looked into how the education system worked. This didn’t reassure Kakashi in the slightest.

The first day of school dawned bright and clear. Yawning widely as he waited for Sakumo to finish his shower and provide breakfast, Kakashi looked up and out of the window at the cloudless blue sky. He had the distinct feeling that today should have been dark and stormy. Sakumo had been in an almost perpetual bad mood since the day he had told Kakashi about his school enrolment. Nothing had cheered him up, and every effort that Kakashi had taken to try and alleviate the rising tension had ended in disaster. If it hadn’t been for Minato and his funny stories, then Kakashi might just have given up on the idea of school altogether.

The sound of the water shutting off clued Kakashi in that Sakumo wouldn’t be too much longer. He thumped his tail against the floor lightly in anticipation and moved to his usual spot under the table, out of Sakumo’s way, but still close by. Laying his head on his paws, he watched impatiently as Sakumo shuffled into the kitchen, his face red and his hair still wet from his shower, and started puttering around preparing what appeared to be an unusually complicated breakfast for them both. It smelt wonderful. Kakashi could hardly keep still as his mouth watered in anticipation.

“Here you go Kakashi, eat up.” Yipping happily in thanks, Kakashi took only the briefest looks at the food Sakumo had served up before wolfing it down. It tasted even better than it had smelt. Licking the bowl clean, he looked up at Sakumo curiously. Usually after feeding him, Sakumo would sit down with his own breakfast, but today, he was still preparing something on the counter. Kakashi felt a nearly uncontrollable urge to stretch up and see what it was that the man was doing, but restrained himself just in time. With the mood that Sakumo had been in recently, he was far more likely to be swatted before he saw anything. 

The sound of a zipper being done up was loud in the small kitchen and Kakashi cast another quizzical gaze up at the kitchen counter. Sakumo had a small bag in one hand. It was black and silver, with a heavy duty plastic zipper, and two oddly shaped straps dangling from it. Sakumo was holding onto it via a small loop on one end, and Kakashi could see the characters of his name spelled out clearly across its’ middle. It was clearly meant for him, but he had no idea what it might be. Sakumo didn’t give him a chance to investigate it before it was plonked unceremoniously onto the table, out of his reach and sight. Sighing in defeat, Kakashi moved to sit under Sakumo’s chair whilst the man polished off his own breakfast.

Finally, after what seemed to be an interminable age, Sakumo finished eating and rose to his feet, then washed the dishes, whilst Kakashi waited impatiently. He didn’t want to be late for his first day, even if Sakumo still wasn’t happy about him going. An odd clinking noise had him looking straight up at the small leather collar held firmly in Sakumo’s hands. Kakashi cringed. He hated having to wear the collar. It pulled at the hairs on his neck and rubbed uncomfortably against his throat, reminding him with every step of his most vulnerable point. Sakumo always insisted that he wear it when they went out and about in the village. Tucking his tail between his legs, Kakashi scooted under the table and huddled out of Sakumo’s reach.

“Kakashi, if you won’t wear your collar, you’re not allowed to go to school.” Pricking his ears at Sakumo’s words, Kakashi was torn between staying put and edging out to have the hated collar attached. He did want to go to school, but he didn’t want to have to wear the collar in order to go.

“The school has a very strict uniform policy Kakashi. Quadruped students are required to wear a collar, non-humanoid bipedal students must wear at least a vest, and humanoid students have to wear a complete uniform. All other students are required to display the school badge somewhere about their person.” Kakashi perked up at the sound of Minato’s voice drifting through the window and darted out to see if he could catch a glimpse of bright blond hair. Behind him, he heard Sakumo snort disdainfully.

**--**--** 

Peering rudely through Sakumo’s kitchen window, Minato watched as Kakashi slunk over to his father and allowed the man to fasten the collar around his small throat. The way that the pup flinched when he felt the metal school badge hit his chest for the first time, caused an inappropriate snort to leave Minato’s nose. Ignoring the glowering elder Hatake, Minato blithely offered to walk to school with them, since he was required to assist with the new student orientation.

Sakumo grunted a sour agreement, but Kakashi opened his mouth in a toothy grin and thumped his tail against the kitchen floor happily. Minato watched as Sakumo reached up to grab a small, oddly shaped, black and silver bag. He wondered what it was for. Judging by the way that Kakashi’s eyes rolled to follow Sakumo’s hands, the pup was just as curious as he was. When Sakumo slipped one finger into Kakashi’s collar to hold him still, Minato’s mouth widened into a broad grin, and he laughed as he watched Sakumo strap the backpack to Kakashi’s small frame. He wished he had a camera to capture the incredibly cute sight.

**--**--** 

Looking out of his office window, Jiraiya smiled as he saw Sakumo and Minato enter the school grounds with Kakashi trotting at their feet. The puppy was wearing the school badge on a collar around his neck, he was wearing a cute little backpack, and judging by the way his ears were twitching continuously, he wasn’t altogether happy about the whole situation. That would probably change when he met up with the other new students – who were similarly decked out and generally equally unhappy about it. Parents never seemed to learn, and the new students were always edgy and uncomfortable. Rising to his feet, the toad demon figured that he’d better go down and start helping the others with the induction process. 

**--**--** 

Sitting at Sakumo’s feet, Kakashi looked around interestedly at the other youngsters. There were a couple of humanoid students, at least one actual human, a litter of kittens and a strange-looking water child who was swimming around in a large fish bowl and breathing through gills. Every parent however, was indistinguishable from a human. Kakashi wondered whether this was mere convention or if all adults were required to stay in human form. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember ever seeing an adult youkai in their natural form before. Even Jiraiya, who Kakashi knew to be a toad demon, always appeared to be human – if rather warty. 

When Sakumo suddenly started moving, Kakashi was nearly left behind. He’d been so busy looking around at all the other young students that he hadn’t been paying attention to what was happening amongst the adults. Scurrying to keep up, and hating the way that the backpack interfered with his balance, he locked his eyes firmly on Sakumo’s shoes, and tried his best not to get stood on. They walked, in a large group, across the parade ground towards a small, detached, building off to one side of the huge edifice that was the Youkai Academy. Inside was an open room with toys and cushions on the floor and a large blackboard at one end. There were no desks.

Standing obediently at Sakumo’s feet, so close that he could lean his small body against the large and comforting leg, Kakashi waited patiently whilst his backpack was removed, and then shook himself convulsively to fluff up his flattened fur. A large hand gently petted his head, in reassurance and then Sakumo was walking away.

“I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you up Kakashi. You wait here until I arrive OK?” Then the man was gone, vanished into the dispersing crowd. Kakashi felt like whimpering. Sakumo had abandoned him here, in this strange place filled with strange people. Tucking his tail firmly between his legs, he backed up until he bumped into the wall, and cowered there, too scared to worry overly much about his dignity, or lack thereof. Through wide, frightened, eyes, he saw that he wasn’t the only one feeling upset about being abandoned. There were tears and whimpers everywhere, and then, all at once, the sharp stench of urine as someone finally lost control. Kakashi was just glad that it wasn’t him.


	5. Hot Dog Pt 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

Title: Hot Dog Pt 5  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: YonKaka  
Rating: will be NC17  
Summary: Life is tough when you’re a teenage werewolf, especially when you’ve got a major crush on your very human tutor. Can Kakashi and Minato ever find love together?

After the torture of his first day, Kakashi settled easily into the school routine. The work wasn’t very hard and it was mostly based around communication and teamwork. Kakashi had already learned several very important lessons. The first being a series of standard movements that stood in for verbal replies, basic things like moving his head from side-to-side to signify ‘no’, and up-and-down to say ‘yes’. He’d conquered the scariness of the multi-species bathroom and discovered that it was far safer to eat the lunch that Sakumo prepared for him everyday rather than risk the refectory food or to swap lunches with his classmates.

Kakashi had had no idea that there were so many different types of youkai, and as yet he had no way to ask Sakumo if he’d known that there were so many diverse species living in Konoha. In his first year class, he was the only of lupine or canine descent, but there quite a few in the older grades, although Kakashi hadn’t quite worked up the courage to approach them yet. 

“Hey Kakashi, is Sakumo late again?” Kakashi looked up as Minato squatted down beside him, and nodded carefully. Minato laughed at his actions and ruffled the fur on the back of his neck familiarly. So far, the worst thing about going to school was the fact that Sakumo was constantly late to collect him.

“Do you have any homework to do?” Kakashi nodded again, “Would you like me to help you with it while we wait?” Yipping happily, Kakashi almost bit his tongue as he nodded his head enthusiastically and thumped his tail on the ground.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got here.” There was the sound of his back-pack’s zipper being lowered and then the distinctly odd sensation of Minato feeling around inside it without removing it from Kakashi’s back.

“Flashcards?” Kakashi nodded again, and yipped confirmation in time with the movement. Minato smiled down at him and gently pet him between the ears. Kakashi pushed his head up into the large hand; it had been ages since Sakumo had done this with him.

“Ok, first one is ‘food’.” Kakashi thought for a moment, and then raised his paw to his mouth. Minato praised him and they continued through; play, please, bathroom, ball, help and father. Kakashi got them all right, and he and Minato were just indulging in a playful game of tug-of-war to celebrate when Sakumo finally arrived. He did not look pleased.

“Let’s go Kakashi.” He said shortly, completely ignoring Minato’s presence. Rising to his feet, Kakashi looked worriedly between his father and his friend, but obediently followed after Sakumo when the man turned and began walking away.

**--**--** 

Sakumo was tired and cranky. He had been held up on his mission and subsequently been late to pick up Kakashi yet again. Then, when he’d finally reached the school, having run nearly all the way, he’d found his son playing games with Minato. He knew that he really should just ask Jiraiya’s blond student to either walk Kakashi home in the afternoons or to watch him until Sakumo could arrive to collect him, but jealous rage rose up in his throat every time before he could open his mouth.

Arriving at their little cottage, Sakumo held the door for Kakashi, removed his shoes, and then followed his son down the hall into the kitchen. Reaching down, he removed the little backpack and emptied it whilst Kakashi rolled enthusiastically about on the rug, scratching his back and fluffing up his fur, yipping happily the whole time. His son had eaten all of his lunch, or at least the teachers had not returned any food to his bag, and Minato had signed off on his homework. Sakumo ground his teeth at the sheer effrontery of Jiraiya’s apprentice, the boy was seriously overstepping his bounds, and there was nothing that Sakumo could do about it without compromising his working relationship with Jiraiya and Sarutob-sama.

**--**--** 

Minato tried to keep the shock and pleasure from his face as he served tea to a decidedly grumpy Sakumo. It was clear to him that Kakashi’s father would rather be anywhere else but here having this conversation with him. He’d never known exactly what it was about him that set the elder Hatake’s teetg on edge, but it had been getting noticeably worse since Kakashi had been enrolled at the Youkai Academy. 

“You’d like me to tutor Kakashi in the afternoons after school?” He clarified, just to be sure that he’d understood correctly. 

“Yes.” Sakumo’s response was short and Minato fancied that he could hear the older man’s teeth grinding. 

Normally he would be required by the Academy to refuse extra-curricular tutoring for first year students, but in Kakashi’s case he was sure that he could make an exception, or perhaps he could simply pass it off to his employers as babysitting.

“When would you like me to start?” He queried.

“Immediately.” There was a slight pause, and then a loud clink as Sakumo placed his still-full tea cup back onto the table and rose to his feet. “Thank you Minato.” 

Minato blinked in surprise as Sakumo vanished from his sight and let himself out. He couldn’t remember the last time that the man had addressed him by his actual name.

**--**--** 

The hateful deed was done. Sakumo took a large swig from the bottle of medicinal rum and shivered as it burned its way down his throat and into his roiling belly. From now on, Kakashi would be spending the majority of his waking hours with someone other than Sakumo; he would be growing in skill before someone else’s eyes, with Sakumo a wistful onlooker from the sidelines. But it was a necessary evil, without a wife or pack to help support them, Sakumo needed to earn as much as possible in order to make his sons’ life safe comfortable. He just wished that there had been someone else he could’ve asked other than Minato, but Jiraiya was out on missions just as frequently as he was and Sarutobi-sama was far too busy to look after a small puppy. There really was no other choice.

**--**--** 

Kakashi ran flat out from his classroom all the way to the library where he met Minato in the afternoons. He’d learned a new trick today and was desperate to show it off. Skidding to halt, he panted for air as he waited for the slow-moving electric doors to open far enough to let him through. Nodding to the librarian on duty, he trotted slowly through the silent aisles to the group study room, using his nose to guide him to the right desk. 

“You’re early today Kakashi.” Minato greeted him with a smile and he yipped quietly in greeting, and then waited patiently for Minato to gather up his books. Together they went back outside and settled down beneath one of the large trees that dotted the playground.

Kakashi could hardly wait until Minato had removed his backpack before showing off his new skill. Moving back slightly, he politely asked for Minato’s attention using a light warbling growl, and then, when he was sure that Minato’s attention was firmly focused on him, he concentrated fiercely, feeling immensely satisfied when the familiar tingling began. 

**--**--** 

Wondering what Kakashi could possibly be so desperate to show him, Minato smiled at the glower of concentration on the small furry face before him. When Kakashi’s fur all began to stand on end, Minato blinked, and then grinned happily, stunned at what he was witnessing.

“Congratulations Kakashi!” he exclaimed, inordinately proud of the young puppy for successfully managing to manifest his chakra in such a visible way. 

He was sure that the classroom exercises had been designed to allow the teachers to feel how much, if any, chakra their students had, in order to plan the next stage of their early education. Kakashi’s precocity had probably stunned them as much as it was stunning him. Minato made a mental note to arrange a meeting with Kakashi’s teachers, without Sakumo present, to discuss what he should be concentrating on in their study sessions.

Grinning down at his ecstatic little charge, he concentrated on bringing his own chakra to the surface, and smiled as he felt his hair and clothing start to stir around him. Kakashi’s ears were pricked in curiosity, and Minato couldn’t help but show off a little, as he made his chakra glow a pale blue colour, making its semi-amorphous form easily visible. 

Then, to his astonishment and delight, the same pale blue glow suddenly leapt into being around the grinning wolf pup. Kakashi was even more gifted than he’d ever imagined, it had taken Minato two solid weeks of study in order to make his chakra visible to the naked eye like that, and Kakashi had managed it in minutes after seeing it for the very first time. He was so proud of Kakashi that he thought his pounding heart might just beat right out of his chest.

“That’s amazing Kakashi, I’m so incredibly proud of you. What do you say we ditch the study session today and go get celebratory ice-cream? I won’t tell Sakumo if you don’t.” Minato let go of his chakra and smiled down at Kakashi’s still-glowing body. The blue light abruptly disappeared as a pink tongue emerged to lick at dry chops. Taking that as a ‘yes please, I’m starving’, Minato picked up the tiny backpack and slung it over his own arm as rose to his feet and dusted off his trousers.

“Let’s go then, we don’t want to miss out on the best flavours.”

**--**--** 

Curled up in his basket at the foot of Sakumo’s bed, Kakashi idly stared up at the man who was his father. He could clearly remember when Sakumo had been the centre of his universe, the one who provided everything that Kakashi ever needed. Now, he barely saw the man. Sakumo was always either out on a mission, or trying to drown his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle. He didn’t know what he should do, but figured that staying out of Sakumo’s way was probably the best bet; after all, everything that he did lately seemed to upset the man.

**--**--** 

Sakumo stared at the ceiling and hoped that Kakashi appreciated everything that he was sacrificing to give his son the best possibly start in life. He had already saved up enough for Kakashi’s education, and now he was working on getting them a better place to live, somewhere closer to both the Academy and to Sarutobi-sama’s place, somewhere closer to a bar where the patrons didn’t know that his wife had killed herself after giving birth to their son, somewhere the memories of his beloved didn’t haunt him at night


End file.
